Ireland to perform in first semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest

Bambie Thug

Ireland will be performing in the first semi-final of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden this year.

Ireland’s entry Bambie Thug will be going up against 14 other countries on May 7 performing their tune, Doomsday Blue after the non-binary Cork artist was chosen to represent Ireland at Eurovision 2024.

Bambie beat 380 entries in total to wind up number one with their late-night goth tune Doomsday Blue, which has been championed as “the strongest national final in 50 years” and is an audible favourite amongst Eurovision fans.

The semi-final lineups were determined randomly by drawing countries from six pots to see who would face whom in which semi-final and which half of that show they would compete in.

Competing against Ireland in the first semi-final are Austria, Malta, Switzerland, Greece, Czechia, Albania, Denmark, Armenia, Cyprus, Poland, Serbia, Lithuania and Croatia. Ireland will perform in the first half of the show which kicks off at 9pm.

Semi-final number two will take place on May 9 and will see Slovenia, Iceland, Finland, Portugal, Luxembourg, Australia, Azerbaijan, Moldova, Israel, Estonia, Georgia, Netherlands, Norway, Latvia, San Marino and Belgium.

The Big Five, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain, Italy and France as well as hosts Sweden don’t need to take part in the semi-final competition. The final will take place in Malmö Sweden on May 11.

Speaking to Ray D’Arcy on RTE Radio 1 on Monday, Bambie said they weren’t expecting the country to get behind them the way it did.

They said: “It was crazy. I definitely was having a bit of a dissociative moment, an out-of-body experience for the whole thing, to be honest.

“But there was just so much love in the room. There was so much support. I had my mom and my sister and my two best friends from when I did university here, before going to London. I felt so held and it was beautiful. I’m so grateful.”

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 Semi-Final Draw took place in Malmö, alongside a ceremony on Tuesday, during which previous hosts Liverpool passed Host City insignia to 2024 hosts Sweden.

Every year, each Host City adds an iconic insignia to the key chain, before handing over the entire collection of insignia to the next Host City.

Join the Irish Mirror’s breaking news service on WhatsApp. Click this link to receive breaking news and the latest headlines direct to your phone. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.